Garment having detachable front and back portions



Nov. 8, 1955 A. P. HOSKINGS GARMENT HAVING DETACHABLE FRONT AND BACKPORTIONS Filed Aug. 20, 1953 Fig. 2

Fig. 4

INVENTOR. ALICE P. HOSKINGS mun: & 162102 AGENTS FaR APPLCANY UnitedStates Patent Office 2,722,686 Patented Nov. 8, 1955 GARMENT HAVINGDETACHABLE FRONT AND BACK PORTIONS Alice P. Hoskings, San Diego, Calif.

Application August 20, 1953, Serial No. 375,454

1 Claim. (Cl. 274) The present invention relates generally to clothingand more particularly to a garment having detachable and intercnangeabletrout and back portions.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a garment in whichthe front and back portions are detachably fastened together at the sideseams and shoulder seams.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment in which thefront and back portions are relatively flat when separated.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment havingdetachable front and back panels which may be made in a wide variety ofdesigns and styles, changing the appearance of the garment as a whole.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment having thesleeves detachably fastened together or to the back of the garment.

Another object is to provide a garment having detachable frontal andrear sections in which the fastening means are generally covered bytrimmings.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment which isinexpensive and practicable to manufacture.

Finally, it is an object to provide a garment of the aforementionedcharacter which is simple, safe and convenient to use, and which willgive generally efficient and durable service.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements andportions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification,particularly pointed out in the claim, and illustrated in the drawingwhich forms a material part of this disclosure and wherein similarcharacters of reference indicate similar or identical elements andportions throughout the specification and throughout the views of thedrawings, and in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a sleeveless type dress, one side beingdisconnected for clarity.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a similar garment having sleeves.

Fig. 3 is a rear view, in perspective, of a dress in which the sleevesare attached to one portion only.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a typical connectionof the garment portions with a ruffie stitched adjacent thereto fordecorative purposes and to generally conceal the fasteners.

Referring now to the drawing, the simple dress used for purposes ofillustration in Fig. 1 comprises a front portion Jill and a back portion12. The front portion includes a top or blouse portion 14 having a necksection 16, shoulder sections 18, and sleeve openings 20, the lowerpart, as illustrated, constituting a skirt 22. The back portion 12 alsoincludes a blouse portion 24 having a neck section 26, shoulder sections28 and sleeve openings 30, and a lower or skirt portion 32. The blouseand lower portion together constitute an element which will be referredto hereinafter as a body section.

The side seams 34 of the blouse 14 and the side seams 36 of the skirt 22are fitted with a plurality of snap fasteners or specifically the femaleportions 38 thereof. These female portions 38 are also fitted to theshoulders 18 and at the outer edges of the neck 16. Similarly, thecorresponding male portions 40 of the snap fasteners are fitted to theside seams 42 and 44 of the blouse 24 and skirt 32 respectively, to theshoulders 28 and opposite edges of the neck 26 adjacent the shoulders.The male and female portions of the snap fasteners are, of course,aligned so that the front and back portions 10 and 12 may be fastenedtogether, a typical completed connection being shown in Fig. 4. Figure 4also discloses trimming, specifically a rufile 120, which may be used tocover the snapped seam and enhance the appearance of the garment. Therufile is shown stitched to the back or outside portion of the snappedseam. However, the particular location may be determined by the effectdesired and individual taste.

The dress illustrated in Fig. 2 is substantially similar to thatdescribed above except that sleeves are fitted into the body of thegarment. The front 46 comprises a blouse 48 having a neck section 50,shoulder sections 52 and sleeves 54, the lower portion constituting askirt 56. The back 58 comprises a blouse 60 having a neck section 62,shoulder sections 64 and sleeves 66, the lower portion of the back beingthe skirt 68.

The side seams 70 and 72 of the blouse 48 and skirt 56 respectively arefitted with female snap fastener portions 38, as are the shouldersections 52 and the upper and lower edges 74 and 76 of the sleeves 54.Similarly, the male snap fastener portions 40 are fitted to the sideseams 78 and 80 of the blouse 60 and skirt 68 respectively, to theshoulder sections 64, and to the upper and lower edges 82 and 84 of thesleeves 66.

The dress shown in Fig. 3 differs in that the complete sleeves arenon-detachably attached to the front portion 86 and detachably securedto the back portion. The front portion 86 includes a blouse 88 and askirt 90, said blouse having a neck section 92, shoulder sections 94 andonepiece sleeve 96, front portions of the one-piece sleeves permanentlyor non-detachably secured to the front portion 86. The back 98 comprisesa blouse 100 and a skirt 102, said blouse having a neck sction 104,shoulder sections 106 and curved notched parts 108 provided toaccommodate the sleeves 96.

Female snap fastener portions 38 are secured to the side seams 110 and112 of the blouse 88 and skirt 90, respectively, to the shouldersections 94, and around the seamed rear edges 114 of the curved notchedparts 108. The corresponding male snap fastener portions are secured tothe side seams 116 and 118 of the blouse 100 and skirt 102, to theshoulder sections 106, and around the inside of the curved notched parts108.

It will be evident that by establishing a standard arrangement of snapfasteners on the garments, various front and back portions may becombined to provide contrasting garments, the portions of the garmentbeing interchangeable according to the specific fastening arrangementused. The arrangement is particularly useful should the garment becomesoiled or damaged. The damaged portion is easily replaced without thenecessity of cleaning, laundering or repairing the entire garment, thisbeing a distinct advantage in the case of childrens clothing. Thus thehazards of laundering a garment which is soiled in the frontal or rearportion are not extended to the entire garment.

Although the structure is illustrated as applied particularly to dressesin the drawing the arrangement is equally suitable for other garmentssuch as boys suits, jackets, playsuits, or uniforms for laboratoryworkers or food handlers or the like. In boys suits the snap fastenerswould be continued down the side seams of the trousers to the legopening and then up the inner leg seam to the crotch. Otherwise stated,the body section in boys clothing constructed according to thisinvention, will have a divided lower part in place of the skirt elementsillustrated in the drawing.

Furthermore, the method of joining is by no means limited to the use ofsnap fasteners, buttons or zippers also being suitable. It should alsobe noted that the exact spacing of the snap fasteners would depend uponthe type of material and the type of garment used. Winter clothing wouldbe more securely fastened than summer clothing and garments used formore formal occasions would be more securely fastened than those forplay clothes.

Furthermore, the particular location of the female and male portions ofthe snap fasteners is a matter of choice. The female portion may besecured to the rear portion of the garment, and the male portion securedto the front portion of the garment so that the frontal portion wouldfasten over the rear portion.

The front and back panels of the garment are substantially flat whenseparated and are thus easily ironed, folded and stored. The method andmeans for joining the portions of the garment are well suited toconventional styles of clothing, thus the exact style and design of suchgarments may be according to current fashion requirements. It should benoted that means such as braids, rick-rack and the like may be used tocover or partially cover the snap-fastened seams in order that theappearance of the garment may be enhanced. Any combination of color ordesigns may be used in the material and trimmings to improve theappearance of the garment.

The operation of this invention will be clearly comprehended from aconsideration of the foregoing description of the mechanical detailsthereof, taken in connection with the drawing and the above recitedobjects. It will be obvious that all said objects are amply achieved bythis invention.

Further description would appear to be unnecessary.

it is understood that minor variation from the form of the inventiondisclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scopeof the invention disclosed and claimed herein, and that thespecification and drawing are to be considered as merely illustrativerather than limiting.

I claim:

A dress designed for production in sets having interchangeable portionsof different appearance, each dress comprising: a front panel and a backpanel; marginally disposed easily separable means connecting said frontand back panels at the side edges thereof; said front panel including ashoulder portion, a neck section, a front blouse section, one-piecesleeves having the front portions thereof permanently attached to saidblouse section, and a skirt portion; said back panel including ashoulder portion, a neck section, a back blouse section having curvednotched parts, and a skirt portion; and easily separable meansconnecting said shoulder portions together and similar means connectingthe edges of said curved notched parts of said back blouse section tosaid sleeves, whereby the portions are adapted for replacement to effectvarious combinations.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,155,544 Bonoff Oct. 5, 1915 1,489,046 Thompson Apr. 1, 1924 2,297,159Mohler Sept. 29, 1942

